How to mix the perfect gin and tonic

Gin-lovers of the world rejoice as World Gin Day returns for its seventh year on Saturday 13 June 2015! Learn how to mix the perfect gin and tonic with our expert guide.

A warm summer's evening calls for this most British of aperitifs. We asked the experts at The Gin Garden how to mix one like a pro.

The gin

Some gins are dry, some floral, some citrussy. To establish your favourite, sample a nip, neat. A good traditional gin is No 3 London Dry Gin: its juniper, balanced with sweet orange, grapefruit and cardamom, marries well with a range of tonics.

The tonic

Buy it in the smallest bottles/cans you can find, to maintain fizz. Fever-Tree is an excellent low-sugar option; Fentimans has a distinctively citrus flavour. Waitrose's own-brand tonic has won several 'blind' taste tests.

How much?

Ratio is a personal thing, some prefer 1:2, others, 1:3. We prefer 1:3 - say 50ml of gin to 150ml of tonic water.

Ice matters

Keep ice trays in zip lock bags so that your cubes don't pick up any freezer odours. Look out for an ice tray that will give you bigger cubes - they melt more slowly.

A chilled glass

Keeps your drink as cool as possible for as long as possible. Serve the Spanish way, in big balloon glasses (or red wine glasses), to let the aroma of your gin blossom.

And to finish

Add a citrus twist: using a peeler or sharp knife, shave a thumb-sized strip of rind off a lemon or lime (avoiding the pith), then squeeze, shiny side down, onto the drink to release the oils before plopping it in.

More cocktail recipes to wet your whistle.

June's The Simple Things is available from all good newsagents, supermarkets and our official online store. Sold out? Download it from Apple Newsstand or subscribe now.

Recipes: Wild cocktails for warm midsummer evenings part two

Rose Petal Syrup (for the Chelsea Fringe Collins cocktail)

Makes approximately 750ml

6 handfuls pink and/or red rose petals
1.2kg caster sugar
750ml water
Zest of half an unwaxed, organic orange
1 tbsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt

Equipment
Sealable presentation bottles, sterilized

1 Snip off the bitter white tip at the base of each petal. Or, when picking the petals from the rosebush, pull them in a clump with one hand and snip the base off in one go with the other.

2 Loosely pack the petals in a nonreactive bowl and add about 400g of the sugar. Gently massage it into the petals to bruise them and start the maceration. Cover with a clean dishtowel and leave overnight or for up to 12 hours.

3 You should return to a gooey mess; the petals have shrunk and the sugar has extracted some colour and flavour from them. Tip the mixture into a non-stick pan and add the remaining sugar, water, orange zest, lemon juice and a pinch of salt, and gently bring to a boil. The colour should transfer from the petals into the liquid. Simmer for 5 mins or until you have a thick, unctuous syrup.

4 Let the syrup cool. Strain it into a wide-mouthed pitcher, then funnel into the sterilized presentation bottles and seal. You can store it in the fridge for well over a month. As this is a rich simple syrup, you need only very small quantities in your sodas and cocktails.

Honeysuckle Syrup (for the Honeysuckle cocktail)

Makes approximately 500ml

8 large handfuls of unsprayed honeysuckle flowers, leaves and stems removed
400g caster sugar*
Juice of half a lemon

Equipment
Sealable presentation bottles, sterilized

1 Place the honeysuckle flowers in a non-stick bowl and cover with cold water, then leave to steep for 12 hours, or at least overnight, at room temperature. Make sure the flowers are completely covered by the water.

2 Strain the mixture into a measuring cup, discarding the flowers. Pour the liquid into a non-stick pan.

3 Measure an equal amount of sugar to the liquid and add to the pan.

4 Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 mins.

5 Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

6 Add the lemon juice and funnel into the sterilized presentation bottles.

*Feel free to replace half the sugar with a handful of chopped sweet cicely leaves, but bear in mind that this will adjust the colour

Rowan, Honey and Lemon Foam (for the Honeysuckle Cocktail)

Makes enough foam for 15 drinks

1½  sheets gelatin (platinum grade)
60ml runny honey
60ml Rowan Syrup*
60ml lemon juice
180ml hot water
120ml pasteurized egg whites
Wild honeysuckle blossom

Equipment
Professional cream whipper with 2 N2O cartridges

1 Place the gelatin sheets in a bowl of iced water and soak them until they are pliable (about 10 mins).

2 Meanwhile, combine the honey, rowan syrup, lemon juice and hot water in a non-stick pan over a very low heat, until the honey is dissolved. Strain using a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pan.

3 Squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatin sheets. Drop the sheets into the pan containing the mix and heat gently to dissolve the gelatin. Stir constantly and do not allow to reach boiling point.

4 Turn off the heat as soon as the gelatin is dissolved. Let cool to room temperature (should take about 15 mins).

5 Place the egg whites in a bowl and lightly whisk until slightly frothy and pour into the pan.

6 Funnel this liquid into the whipper. Charge it with the 2 N2O cartridges, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Shake well for at least a minute and refrigerate.

7 Let the foam stabilize for a minimum of 2 hours, preferably overnight, before using.

8 Shake the whipper well before dispensing. Tip it upside down so that it is completely inverted over the cocktail. Let the foam settle for 20 seconds before garnishing with wild honeysuckle blossom.

*Rowan Syrup (for the Rowan, Honey and Lemon Foam, to go in the Honeysuckle cocktail)

Makes approximately 1 litre

1kg very ripe, bright red rowan berries
Approximately 2 litres water
1 heaped tsp salt
700g caster sugar

Equipment
Sealable presentation bottles, sterilized
Large jelly bag or muslin

1 Separate the rowan berries from their stalks, then wash and rinse the berries. Add to a non-stick pan and pour in about 1 litre of water and the salt, making sure the berries are covered.

2 Bring to a boil and simmer long enough for them to become soft (about 25 mins). Remove from the heat.

3 Using the jelly bag/muslin, slowly strain the berries and liquid into a wide-mouthed pitcher.

4 Return the pulp to the pan and add the remaining 1 litre of water. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat.

5 Strain the pulp, as above, into the pitcher.

6 Return all the strained liquid to the cleaned pan, add the sugar, bring to a boil, and boil hard for 5 mins. Remove from the heat.

7 Funnel the syrup into the presentation bottles while still piping hot. Seal. 8 Store in a cool, dark place. Once opened, keep in the fridge and use within a month.

Cocktail recipes from Wild Cocktails from the Midnight Apothecary by Lottie Muir (CICO Books, £16.99). Over 100 recipes using home-grown and foraged fruits, herbs and edible flowers. www.thecocktailgardener.co.uk

Recipe: Sunshine hash

Sunshine hash

Serves 4 very generously

Ingredients
4 sausages (take the opportunity to buy an interesting flavour from the butcher, like caramelised onion, sweet chilli or apple)
800g new potatoes, scrubbed clean
olive oil
8 rashers streaky bacon, roughly snipped or chopped
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped, or 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 spring onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped (optional)
salt and pepper
4 large free-range eggs

1 Cook sausages over a medium heat for about 10-12 mins, then remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe the pan with a piece of kitchen roll. 

2 Chop the potatoes into small cubes. Put two tbsp olive oil into the frying pan over a low/medium heat. Cook the potatoes for about 15-20 mins until they are golden.

3 Add the bacon and cook for a further five mins. 

4 Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they just start to soften, but don’t let them go too mushy. Stir in the spring onions and garlic if using. Then add the sausages (I like to slice them thickly before adding to the pan). Season well with salt and pepper. 

5 Push the hash to one side of the pan and add another tbsp oil. Crack two eggs in the space, and fry until they are cooked to your liking. 

6 Divide the hash between four plates, and pop an egg on top of two of them. Return the pan to the heat and fry the remaining eggs for the last two plates. 

7 Serve with ketchup and big mugs of tea. 

Recipe from Pitch Up, Eat Local by Ali Ray (£16.99, AA Publishing with The Camping and Caravanning Club)

Two seasonal salad recipes from Abel & Cole for National Vegetarian Week

It's National Vegetarian Week and we're going bright and shiny with two beautifully colourful salad recipes from our friends at Abel & Cole. 

* Offer: The Simple Things readers get a free Abel & Cole grow-your-own-garden - a box of mini plants all ready to plant out in the garden, with an RRP £35 - and 4th veg box free when signing up to a delivery.  Use the code TST15 on sign up. *

Piñata Salad

Grab your salad spoons and whack away at this zesty (thank you, limes) spring number. Blindfold optional of course.

It’ll take
15 mins (prep)
1-2 mins (cook)

It’ll feed
2 people

Ingredients
1 beetroot
2 carrots
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 lime
A punnet of alfalfa sprouts
A handful of coriander
1 avocado

Step by step

Peel and coarsely grate your beetroot and carrots.

Set a dry frying pan over high heat. Add your cumin seeds. Lower heat. Toast for 1-2 mins till just fragrant*. Scatter all (hang onto a pinch for later) in with your grated veg.

Grate the zest of your lime into the salad mix. Add a good squeeze of juice. Gloss with a little oil. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to mix.

Rinse and drain your alfalfa sprouts. Roughly chop your coriander. Set aside a pinch of coriander. Gently mix the sprouts and remaining coriander through the salad.

Halve, stone and peel your avocado. Divide the salad between two large bowls or plates. Pop the avocado halves in the centre. Season well. Add a good squeeze of lime juice and a gloss of oil. Finish with the reserved cumin seeds and chopped coriander.

* Going raw? Skip toasting your seeds. If you do toast them it’ll bring out the oils to make them more fragrant and tasty.

Golden Sunshine Salad

It takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for light to travel from the sun to us. It takes just a few minutes more to whip up this organic sunshine salad.

It’ll take
15 mins (prep)
2 mins (cooking)

It’ll feed 
2-4 people

Ingredients 
1 lettuce
½ pineapple or 1 ripe mango*
A thumb of turmeric
A few pinches of sea salt
A drop of honey (optional)
100g mixed bean sprouts
1 carrot
1 lime
A handful of fresh coriander
2 tsp cumin seeds
A gloss of oil
2 garlic cloves
1 chilli

Step by Step

Slice the base from your lettuce. Tumble the leaves into a large bowl. Gently tear any larger leaves. Rinse well. Drain. Pat dry.

Slice the mango or pineapple into chunks. Cut the skin off. Place all the flesh from your fruit into a food processor or blender. Peel a 2cm chunk of peeled turmeric. Add it with a pinch of salt. Blend till smooth. Taste. Add a drop of honey or more turmeric, if needed, till it’s just right for you.

Gently mix your dressing through the leaves. Arrange the dressed leaves on a large platter or on individual plates.

Rinse your sprouts and carrot. Tumble the sprouts into the bowl you used for the lettuce (let them lap up any leftover dressing). Peel the carrot into thin ribbons using a veg peeler. Add them to the sprouts. 

Add the lime zest and juice. Season with a pinch of salt. Rinse, shake dry, roughly chop and add your coriander to the carrot/sprout mix.

Set a frying pan over medium heat. Add your cumin seeds. Toast till just fragrant. Scatter them over the sprout mix. Arrange this over your dressed leaves.

Pour enough oil into your pan to coat the bottom. Peel and thinly slice your garlic. Thinly slice your chilli. Fold them through the hot oil with a pinch of salt. Sizzle till just golden. Remove with a slotted spoon. Scatter over the salad. Drizzle a hint of the warm, spiced oil over and serve.

*Mango a little firm? Pop it in a paper bag with a banana and it should ripen in day or two. 

These recipes are from Abel & Cole's new Super Salad Box - available weekly for £19.50.

Recipe: Blackcurrant leaf ice lollies

"While the blackcurrant blossom is just considering its change into berries, I’m eagerly picking the leaves. It can be hard to tell the black from the red from the white currants by sight, but if you rub them, blackcurrant leaves are thick, full and sweet in fragrance, and make my favourite sorbet, which can easily be twisted into lollipops, as my daughter insists I do." 

Try these unusual ice lollies from our green-fingered foodie, Mark Diacono. Pinch a couple of handfuls of early leaves from across the whole bush, so as not to deplete any part of the plant. The summer and early autumn leaves are still good, but the May leaves are best. This also works well with elderflower and midsummer scented geranium leaves. This makes a fine sorbet, too – just pour the liquid into a plastic tub, freeze for a few hours, then whisk an egg white into the slush and freeze.

Blackcurrant leaf ice lollies

2 large handfuls of young blackcurrant leaves/a 500ml jugful, fairly tightly packed
270g sugar
700ml cold water 
Juice of 3 lemons

1 Crush the blackcurrant leaves to help release the aroma and flavour by either squeezing them tightly in your hand or gently pounding with the end of a rolling pin.

2 Put them in a stainless steel saucepan with the water and sugar. Bring slowly just to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and simmer for 3 mins only.

3 Allow to completely cool.

4 Add the lemon juice, then strain. 5 Pour the juice into lollipop moulds and freeze. 

Recipe from May's The Simple Things. Buy, download or subscribe now.

Recipe: Wild garlic pesto

If you’ve been to the woods recently and noticed a rather pungent smell, you’ve probably stumbled across wild garlic, otherwise known as Ramsons, which carpet our woodlands at this time of year. 

We asked expert forager Chris Westgate of Heavenly Hedgerows for her advice on how to pick and eat this most delicious wild plant:

• The whole plant is edible but the young leaves have the best flavour and their late arrival this year means they should be just about perfect now. They’re best eaten raw in a salad or used as the base for a pesto (see right). Cooking will help reduce the pungency if you find the flavour too strong.
• Try drying the leaves and adding them to sea salt. They keep for ages and taste wonderful on roast lamb or potatoes.
• Use the star-like, white flowers to prettify a spring salad.
• Once flowering, the seeds are also good to use. They pack quite a punch in salad or on top of a soup. They’re great pickled, too. Just pop in a clean jar and cover with vinegar for use during the winter months (they contain Vitamin C). 
• The plant is most easy to identify by its smell but it can be confused in looks with the poisonous Lily of the Valley, Lords and Ladies and Dog’s Mercury, which also likes to grow alongside wild garlic, so pick it with caution. Always wash the plants carefully at home before eating, making sure the leaves definitely smell of garlic.
• Abundant as it may be in parts, it’s good practice, as with all wild plants and fruit, to only take what you will use, leaving lots for wildlife and other people. And remember that it’s illegal to uproot a wild plant without the landowner’s permission.

Wild garlic pesto 

60g wild garlic
60g rapeseed oil
22g parmesan cheese
Salt
35g pine nuts
15ml rice or white wine vinegar or lemon juice

1. Wash the wild garlic, ensuring there are no other leaves in the mix. 
2. Finely chop and add to a blender with the pine nuts. Blend to a smooth-ish consistency.
3. Add cheese, salt, vinegar and oil. 
4. Stir with knife or spatula. Put in small jars until ready to use. Use within two weeks.

Sniff out wild garlic in a woodland near you, forage away and, if you’ve got a garlic glut, try one of these three recipes as well.

Wild garlic hummus

A vibrant green dip/spread with a wonderfully, earthy garlicky element, its Middle Eastern heritage remains.

Wild garlic and goat’s cheese pie

Based on the Greek dish, spanokopita, this pie is made with a mixture of wild greens.

Wild garlic gnocchi with tomato ragout

You'll need a translation for this lovely recipe from Fraulein Glucklich blog, but we think it's worth it.

Recipe: May Bowl

This simple punch originated in Germany and is traditionally served on May Day. Sweet woodruff*, Galium odoratum, is a creeping herb found in shady patches under trees. Its leaves and flowers add sweet, herbal, vanilla and woody notes to dry white wine and champagne. Pick the leaves and flowers the day before, so they dry out slightly and give off a stronger scent.

MAY BOWL

MAKES 14 SERVINGS 
1 small bunch fresh sweet woodruff
250ml water
4 tbsp caster sugar 
750ml bottle dry white wine, such as a German Reisling
750ml bottle champagne or dry sparkling wine

TOOLS
baking sheet
sealable Tupperware 
paper towel
small nonstick pan 
wooden spoon
punch bowl
plastic wrap
ladle

1 First you need to dry out some of the woodruff. Remove any damaged leaves from the bunch and spread out about a third on a baking sheet. Place on the bottom shelf of a recently switched-off oven, with the door open, or in an airing cupboard, overnight.

2 Meanwhile, line a Tupperware box with a damp sheet of paper towel and place the remaining leaves and flowers inside to stay fresh. Seal the box and place in the fridge until just before you serve the punch. 

3 About two hours before serving, heat the water and sugar in the nonreactive pan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, place the semi- dried woodruff in a punch bowl and pour the dry white wine over it. Cover and put in the fridge for at least an hour. 

4 As soon as the sugar syrup has cooled, add it to the punch bowl, stir, and return to the fridge for an hour. Before serving, remove the semi-dried woodruff with a ladle and replace with the fresh leaves and flowers from the Tupperware box.

5 Serve in a wine glass topped up with bubbly and garnished with a woodruff leaf or flower.

Suggestion: Strawberries, or even better, wild strawberries would also make a great addition to this punch, as would wild violet flowers and lemon slices.

* Sweet woodruff has been used since the Middle Ages to treat everything from cuts to liver problems. Today herbalists use it as an anti- inflammatory and to treat stomach ache. It contains coumarin, which is toxic in high doses, so drink this punch in moderation, won’t you?

Recipe taken from Wild Cocktails by Lottie Muir (Cico Books, £16.99) Photography by Kim Lightbody.

Recipe: Campfire beef and beans

If you’re camping this summer and want to christen your brand-new Kotlich stove with a hearty stew, look no further than this delicious Campfire Beef and Beans recipe. You could easily use lamb or sausages instead, depending on your proximity to the shops.

Campfire beef & beans

Serves 8–10

1 tsp ghee or butter
1kg good-quality minced beef
8 bacon rashers, diced
2 large onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 tsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp hot smoked paprika (optional)
4 tbsp black treacle or brown sugar
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp tomato puree
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
8 large tomatoes, roughly diced
4 medium carrots, diced
400ml water
A large handful of fresh parsley
1 tin Haricot beans or two handfuls of dried Haricot beans that you have soaked and cooked yourself

1 Brown the beef in ghee or butter, then set aside. Put the bacon into the kotlich and cook until crispy.

2 Add the onions and stir for 8–10 mins until softened. Add the garlic and thyme and stir for a minute, adding the hot smoked paprika if you choose.

3 Add the treacle, vinegar, tomato puree, two pinches of salt, some black pepper and the mustard and fry for a minute, stirring well.

4 Finally add the fresh tomatoes, carrots, the browned beef, parsley, cooked beans and water. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Do keep an eye on it and add water as needed.

5 Serve piping hot with a hunk of crusty bread to mop up the plate.

Recipe taken from The Kotlich Cook.

Recipe: Homemade 'Nutella'

Kerstin Rodgers is better known as the blogger Ms Marmite Lover. She was a pioneer of the secret tea room. These recipes are from her book MsMarmiteLover’s Secret Tea Party.  

Kerstin says "the thing I don’t like about Nutella is the claggy palm oil sensation in your mouth. Making this at home means you know exactly what’s going into it."

Makes 2 200g jars
200g whole hazelnuts, shelled 
350g milk chocolate, chopped 
2 tbsp groundnut or hazelnut oil 
3 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder 
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp sea salt or vanilla salt

1 Preheat the oven to 180/Fan 160/350F.
2 Place the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 5–10 mins, watching that they don’t burn. Remove from the oven and carefully rub off the papery skins using a rough tea towel. Leave to cool.
3 Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie or in a bowl in short bursts in the microwave (on full power).
4 Grind the toasted hazelnuts with the remaining ingredients in a blender until they form a paste, adding the melted chocolate. The paste will thicken as it cools. 

Homemade ‘Nutella’ will keep for up to a month in an airtight container in the fridge.

Recipe by Kerstin Rodgers from her book MsMarmiteLover’s Secret Tea Party (Random House, £20). Turn to page 24 of April's The Simple Things for the rest of her high tea menu, including recipes for: 

Rachael’s Secret Tea Room Muffins, Hobbit Seed Cake, Lemon, Almond and Pistachio Cake with Lemon Cream Frosting, Homemade Nutella, and Cupcakes baked in a cup.

 April's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe today.

Recipe: Homemade crumpets

The most important thing when making crumpets is getting enough holes into them. Flat crumpets have nowhere for the butter to sink into! Make sure you beat the butter sufficiently, don’t overfill the rings with butter and cook them very slowly so that the bubbles have enough time to form and then pop.

Makes 12

70g strong white bread flour
70g plain white flour
1 sachet (7g) fast-action dried yeast 
1⁄2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp caster sugar
275l milk, warm (not hot)
1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
75–100ml warm water
Melted unsalted butter, for greasing 

Lots of salty butter, for spreading! 

Equipment

Cast-iron or good-quality heavy- based frying pan (or griddle)
At least 4 metal crumpet or egg rings or plain metal pastry cutters about 7.5cm in diameter
Heatproof pastry brush

Method

1 Mix together the flours, yeast and salt. Add the sugar and milk and beat until you have a smooth batter. Cover and leave to rise for 45 mins.

2 Combine the bicarbonate of soda with the warm water and mix it into the batter. Cover again and rest for 20 mins. 

3 Heat the pan, then butter it and sufficiently grease the insides of the rings or cutters with the pastry brush. Allow the rings to heat up in the pan, then fill each one with about 2cm batter. Don’t overfill them as the crumpets will take too long to cook and the holes won’t have time to form.

4 Wait. Be patient. Turn your crumpets over only once you can see holes starting to poke through the batter. Then lift away the rings and flip over the crumpets to continue cooking.

5 Brush the empty rings with more butter and ladle in more batter.

6 To keep the crumpets hot, lay them one by one in a large ‘envelope’ of tin foil and keep them in the oven on its lowest heat. Or butter them copiously and rush them out to your guests, piping hot. 

Recipe by Kerstin Rodgers from her book MsMarmiteLover’s Secret Tea Party (Random House, £20). Turn to page 24 of April's The Simple Things for the rest of her high tea menu, including recipes for: 

Rachael’s Secret Tea Room Muffins, Hobbit Seed Cake, Lemon, Almond and Pistachio Cake with Lemon Cream Frosting, Homemade Nutella, and Cupcakes baked in a cup.

 April's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe today.

Recipe: Rhubarb and ginger pavlova

Delicately spiced pink rhubarb, lashings of cream and a crisp brown sugar meringue makes for pav perfection. Just the ticket for lunch this weekend.

Rhubarb and ginger pavlova

If you have fussy children to please, you could swap the ginger for white sugar, but this version works beautifully.
The addition of vinegar (a Nigella tip) helps to make the middle beautifully soft and chewy. All but the whipped cream for the topping can be made ahead of time and the whole assembled just before eating. Note that the two main components require plenty of oven time at different temperatures, so plan ahead.

Serves 8
FOR THE MERINGUE
6 egg whites
300g soft brown sugar 
1 tsp red wine vinegar 
50g crystallised ginger, sliced thinly
FOR THE TOPPING
3 sticks rhubarb
3 tbsp honey
Zest and juice of one orange 
1 vanilla pod, split
3 Chinese star anise
1 vanilla pod
500ml double cream, to serve

TO MAKE THE MERINGUE
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan160C/350F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a perfectly clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form peaks, then slowly whisk in the sugar a tbsp at a time. It will turn sepia-coloured and shiny. Sprinkle in the vinegar and the crystallised ginger, then carefully fold in until combined.
3. Spoon and smooth the mixture into a circle approximately 23cm across on the lined baking sheet. Place in the oven and reduce the heat to 150C/Fan130/300F. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until it is dry and crisp on the outside. Turn off the oven, open the door slightly, and leave to cool completely.
FOR THE RHUBARB TOPPING
4. Preheat the oven to 180C/ Fan160/350F. Slice the rhubarb into 2-inch pieces and place in a deep- sided baking dish. Pour over the honey and orange juice. Scrape
the beans out of the vanilla pod into the juices, then add the pod along with the Chinese star anise.
5. Bake for around 30 minutes, until the rhubarb is tender but still holding its shape. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
6. Whip the cream and spread it generously over the cooled meringue base. Spoon the rhubarb carefully onto the top, dribbling over some of the juices, and serve immediately.

For the rest of Lia Leendertz's rhubarb feature - including recipes for Tempura mackerel with rhubarb relish, and Dusky pink lady cocktails - turn to page 36 of the March issue of The Simple Things. Not got your March issue? Buy now,  subscribe or look inside

Fresh: Herbs - how to make them last, PLUS a winter herb salad recipe

March is the perfect month to experiment with herbs, to bring freshness and flavour to your cooking. How hard can it be to make supermarket herbs last? Alive one minute, wilting the next... Help those pots of herbs enjoy a longer lifespan.

Pot on

Supermarket herbs are grown for value, so there is a lot of plant crammed into a little pot, causing overcrowding and competition for nutrients. Potting on in a bigger container will give the plant room to grow.

Best for: Thyme, chives, sage, parsley, basil, mint and rosemary

Pick hard

This encourages growth and lets light in.

Best for: Parsley, oregano, thyme

Pick prudently

On a basil plant, don't be tempted to pick the biggest leaves first. Pinch out the smaller leaves at the top of the stem instead, to encourage growth. 

Best for: Basil

Water carefully

Drenching herbs can kill them. Instead, water from below by sitting the pot on a saucer of water until the soil feels moist, but not wet. Let the soil dry out before repeating.

Best for: all herbs

Recipe: Winter herb salad

Go heavy on the herbs. This Middle Eastern-style dish is packed with punchy flavours. Serves 4.

1 large bunch flat-leaved parsley
1 large bunch coriander
5 cauliflower florets
A handful of radishes
5 spring onions

For the dressing:
Zest and juice of half a lemon
30ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

1. Roughly chop the herbs and the radishes and slice the spring onions, and put them together into a large bowl. Take the central stems out of the cauliflowers to break them up into tiny florets. Add to the salad.

2. Put all of the dressing ingredients into a jar and shake them together, then pour over the salad and mix well.

Not got your March copy of The Simple Things? Buy now,  subscribe or look inside

Recipe: Fairtrade Fortnight - Chocolate fruit and nut slices

It's Fairtrade Fortnight (until 8 March) and The Simple Things is celebrating with a trio of delicious and ethically responsible chocolate-based recipes. We think you might want to join us...

Over the past 20 years, the FAIRTRADE mark has become the best known ethical label in the UK. The Fairtrade movement has generated significant economic benefits for farmers and workers around the world, from cocoa growers in Ghana to sugar farmers in Belize. In 2015, the Fairtrade Foundation wants to see more people choosing products that change lives - so that greater impact can be achieved over the next 20 years and beyond.  

70% of the world’s food is produced by 500 million smallholder farmers yet many of them can’t feed their families. And many farmers who are part of the Fairtrade system are still not selling all their produce as Fairtrade to work their way out of real poverty. For example, tea growers are selling less than 10% of total production as Fairtrade.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2015 turns the spotlight on the famers and workers who grow our favourite food, to share their compelling stories and remind everyone of the dramatic difference Fairtrade makes and why it is still needed. 

Focusing on three ingredients we couldn't live without - cocoa, tea and sugar - try one of three Fairtrade Fortnight recipes we'll be bringing you this week.

Fruit and Nut Chocolate Slices

250g shortcrust pastry
125g apricot jam
3 large free-range eggs
175g soft brown sugar
50g melted butter
75g plain flour
100g walnuts, chopped
100g semi-dried apricots, chopped
250g Raisin & Hazelnut chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 20 x 30cm cake tin.
2. Roll out the pastry to fill the base of the tin, and bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool, and then spread over the jam.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, and fold in the melted butter, flour and walnuts.
4. Spread evenly over the pastry. Return to the oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.
5. Scatter the apricots over the cake. Melt the chocolate and cover the cake. Cool before slicing.

Recipe: Fairtrade Fortnight - Farmhouse chocolate and banana bread

It's Fairtrade Fortnight (until 8 March) and The Simple Things is celebrating with a trio of delicious and ethically responsible chocolate-based recipes. We think you might want to join us...

Over the past 20 years, the FAIRTRADE mark has become the best known ethical label in the UK. The Fairtrade movement has generated significant economic benefits for farmers and workers around the world, from cocoa growers in Ghana to sugar farmers in Belize. In 2015, the Fairtrade Foundation wants to see more people choosing products that change lives - so that greater impact can be achieved over the next 20 years and beyond.  

70% of the world’s food is produced by 500 million smallholder farmers yet many of them can’t feed their families. And many farmers who are part of the Fairtrade system are still not selling all their produce as Fairtrade to work their way out of real poverty. For example, tea growers are selling less than 10% of total production as Fairtrade.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2015 turns the spotlight on the famers and workers who grow our favourite food, to share their compelling stories and remind everyone of the dramatic difference Fairtrade makes and why it is still needed. 

Focusing on three ingredients we couldn't live without - cocoa, tea and sugar - try one of three Fairtrade Fortnight recipes we'll be bringing you this week.

Farmhouse chocolate and banana bread

Makes 1 loaf

225g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
100g butter at room temperature
175g caster sugar
2 large free-range eggs, beaten
2 very ripe bananas
3 tablespoons milk
100g dark (70% or 85% cocoa solids) chocolate, chopped into very small pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and line a 23 x 13cm loaf tin.

2. Sift the flour and salt.

3. Cream the butter and sugar, for ease in a food processor. Add the eggs, bananas and milk and mix thoroughly. Next add the flour and salt, but stop mixing as soon as the ingredients come together.

4. Fold half of the chopped chocolate into the mixture. This must be done using a spoon – do not use a food processor for this.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, sprinkle the rest of the chocolate on top of the mixture and push the pieces in slightly.

6. Bake in the centre of the oven for between 45 minutes and 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Tip:

When mixing the wet and dry ingredients, do not work the mixture too much as that will release the gluten in the flour and make for a heavier texture. For this reason, stop when the mixture has just come together.

Recipe: Spring plaice, with shrimp and sprouting broccoli

The sun is shining, the trees are blossoming, and it's time to get out of that winter cooking rut. Go lighter (like the mornings) with this fresh and tasty plaice recipe, courtesy of the Edible Garden Show.

Taking place on 20-22 March at Alexandra Palace, London, the Edible Garden Show is the only show in the UK dedicated to grow-your-own. Taking you beyond the plot, Good Life Live covers a whole range of outdoor living experiences.  Both events are packed full of free experts talks and hands on demonstrations  from the likes of Big Allotment Challenge’s Jonathan Moseley, BBC’s James Wong & Radio 4’s Pippa Greenwood. It’s the perfect family day out with under 16's going free, a pop up city farm and Cbeebies Mr Bloom popping by to say “‘ello tiddlers”. 

TICKET OFFER

Readers of The Simple Things can get 2 tickets for £25 by using code: TST225 - that’s a 37% discount on door prices! 

To book your tickets, which give access to both Good Life Live and The Edible Garden Show, please call the ticket hotline on 0871 230 3451 or visit www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk.

Spring plaice, with shrimp and sprouting broccoli

Serves 2 

Ingredients:

1 whole plaice (about 750g), cleaned and scaled, skin on - ask your fishmonger to do the fiddly bits, like cutting the pocket in the top

125g brown shrimp or small prawns

Juice of ½ lemon

150g unsalted butter, melted

To the melted butter add a quarter of a teaspoon of each of the following and stir well: 
Mace
Nutmeg
Paprika
Chilli powder 

250g Charlotte or pink fir/anya potatoes

200g Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Zest of 1 lemon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan large enough to lay the whole fish in flat.
3. Take the plaice and make two diagonal cuts towards the tail in each half of the fish on the side with the dark skin (see picture).
4. Place the fish in the frying pan, dark skin down, and fry over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Gently turn the fish over in one movement, so now the dark skin side is facing up. It should be slightly crispy and golden.
5. Now add the flavoured butter and a squeeze of half a lemon and, as it melts, spoon the melting, foaming butter over the fish to baste it and get that flavour in there. Top with the shrimp and carry on spooning the butter over for another minute.
6. Place in the oven for 8-12 minutes (depending on size of fish). A good way to tell if it's cooked, is that you should easily be able to remove the head of the fish with a dessert spoon.
7. Remove from the oven and loosely cover with tinfoil to keep warm.
8. Plate up the steamed broccoli and new potatoes, and finish with the fish.

Recipe: Fairtrade Fortnight - Tiramisu

It's Fairtrade Fortnight (until 8 March) and The Simple Things is celebrating with a trio of delicious and ethically responsible chocolate-based recipes. We think you might want to join us...

Over the past 20 years, the FAIRTRADE mark has become the best known ethical label in the UK. The Fairtrade movement has generated significant economic benefits for farmers and workers around the world, from cocoa growers in Ghana to sugar farmers in Belize. In 2015, the Fairtrade Foundation wants to see more people choosing products that change lives - so that greater impact can be achieved over the next 20 years and beyond.  

70% of the world’s food is produced by 500 million smallholder farmers yet many of them can’t feed their families. And many farmers who are part of the Fairtrade system are still not selling all their produce as Fairtrade to work their way out of real poverty. For example, tea growers are selling less than 10% of total production as Fairtrade.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2015 turns the spotlight on the famers and workers who grow our favourite food, to share their compelling stories and remind everyone of the dramatic difference Fairtrade makes and why it is still needed. 

Focusing on three ingredients we couldn't live without - cocoa, tea and sugar - try one of three Fairtrade Fortnight recipes we'll be bringing you this week.

Tiramisu

1 large free-range egg yolk
1 tbsp caster sugar
80g mascarpone cheese
40g whipping cream
4 sponge fingers, broken in half
60ml espresso coffee
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tbsp Marsala
20g dark chocolate (85% cocoa)

1. Whisk the egg yolk and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone.

2. Add the cream, and whip everything together until soft peaks form.

3. Place a spoonful in two glasses. Mix the sugar with the espresso, and dip the sponge fingers in it. Arrange on top of the cream. Splash over the Marsala.

4. Top with remaining cream, and finish with grated chocolate.

5. Refrigerate for 20 minutes before serving.

Gathering: How to make sushi - videos

Sushi needn’t be tricky – with our guide to the freshest fish and its Japanese accompaniments, you’ll be master of the rolls. Turn to page 25 of March's The Simple Things for our sushi menu and recipes.

Online videos can help with making sushi. Here's our pick of the most useful.

California rolls

How to make Sushi Rice

Inside out rolls

Recipe: Baked thyme chips

It's National Chip Week and we're celebrating with a batch of these delicious baked thyme chips. Pass the ketchup...

Oh, Ladycakes'baked thyme chips have been a bit of a labour of love. Blogger Ashlae has been baking versions of these since she got together with her boyf Thom five whole years ago.

Much to-ing and fro-ing over email (the chips / fries / crisps language barrier proved confusing all round - note to US readers, we're talking about baked thyme fries here!) and Ashlae agreed to share the result of all her years of testing and tweaking with The Simple Things readers.

And we have to say we're very pleased that she has, because because these look close to perfect. We're also promised that these baked chips are '100 billion times' better for you than the regular, deep-fried version. That makes them pretty much a health food, right? Yum...

Recipe: Tea smoked trout with horseradish and yogurt sauce

Just in time for the start of the trout fishing season, and with a nice garnish of seasonal watercress, we asked Yeo Valley for their favourite February recipe.  

Ingredients

10 tea bags
175g demerara sugar
175g long grain rice
4 trout fillets
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Foil

For the Horseradish & Yogurt Sauce:
100g Yeo Valley Natural Yogurt
1 tbsp of hot horseradish
Juice of a lemon
Small sprig of dill

Method

Cut the tea bags open, shake out the tea into a bowl and discard the bags. Add the sugar and rice and mix together.

Line a deep, heavy roasting tin with silver foil.

Spread the tea mixture over the base.

Cover with either a cooling rack or another layer of foil. Place the roasting tray on top of the stove and heat up.

Once the mixture is smoking slightly place the trout on the rack or on top of the foil, skin side down. Drizzle the trout with 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Cover the roasting tin tightly with foil or a tightly covered lid, and leave to smoke on the stove over a moderate heat for 15-20 mins.

Mix all ingredients for the sauce together, season to taste, then spoon over the smoked trout and serve with fresh watercress.

Thanks to Yeo Valley for the recipe.

Recipe: Homemade Jaffa cakes

How do you transform a Jaffa Cake into a thoughtful gift? Make it yourself. And make it French. 

This recipe brings together soft cookies and marmalade, topped with crispy chocolate. Wherever you rock up with a tin of these, you’re sure to be well received. 

Makes about 20
170g orange marmalade 
Pinch of agar* powder
3 large free-range eggs 
75g caster sugar
75g plain flour
1 tsp sunflower oil 
200g/7oz dark chocolate

1 In a saucepan, mix the marmalade with 4 tsp of water, bring to a boil, sprinkle with the agar and mix vigorously. Let the marmalade simmer for 2 mins.

2 Put a tsp marmalade into each cup of a 20-cup mini muffin pan and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for an hour. 

3 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F. Separate the eggs and, with an electric mixer, whisk the whites with a pinch of salt until stiff.

4 Sprinkle the sugar over the egg whites and whisk for another minute. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, whisking all the time, and then beat in the flour. Finally, add the oil and mix gently.

5 Pour the batter onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Spread it to an even thickness to cover the baking sheet. Bake for about 10 mins and then let cool.

6 With a cookie cutter, cut circles about 5cm in diameter, wasting as little as possible. Set the cut-out circles on the same lined baking skeet and bake for about 5 mins to dry the cookies.

7 Spread each cookie with a little of the refrigerated marmalade mixture and
then arrange on a baking sheet and freeze for an hour.

8 Melt the chocolate in a bain marie (a heatproof bowl set just above a pan
of boiling water).

9 Remove the cookies from the freezer and, using a soft spatula, coat each one with a thin layer of melted chocolate. The difference in temperature will cause the chocolate to solidify almost instantly into a crisp layer.

10 Transfer the cookies to a rack as soon as they’re finished to let the chocolate harden completely before eating. The cookies keep for up to five days in an airtight tin.

*Agar is a kind of vegetarian gelatin, available in the baking section at big supermarkets.

Recipe taken from Better Made at Home by Estérelle Payany. Photography: Guillaume Czerw (Black Dog & Leventhal, £12.99).

More recipes!

Got a taste for shop-bought treats made by hand? Us too. Follow our Pinterest board for recipes for classics such as jammie dodgers, hobnobs, custard creams, fondant fancies, and even the chocolate teacake.

Follow The Simple Things's board Homemade treats on Pinterest.

Compiled by Lottie Storey